Artificial heart keeps boy alive for record 251 days

A three-year-old boy has been kept alive with an artificial heart for more than eight months, which doctors say is a record for a child in the UK.

Joe Skerratt from Gillingham, Kent, was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, which meant his heart struggled to pump blood around his body.

He was temporarily fitted with a "Berlin heart", to give his own a helping hand.

After 251 days, he finally had a heart transplant last year.

Joe's mother, Rachel, said "we started to see his character coming back" after he was fitted with the Berlin heart. But this was the start of a long wait for a heart donor.           More Read